Tag: PropertyGuru

Singapore – Southeast Asia-wide digital property marketplace PropertyGuru Group has appointed Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas, former director of product management at online travel company Expedia Group, to be its new managing director for data and software solutions (DSS) business. 

Ho-Strangas brings deep domain knowledge in travel and technology. In her most recent role at Expedia Group, where she has extensive experience devising strategies and software solutions for enterprise players in the travel space, Ho-Strangas has led large teams driving global strategic and cross-functional workstreams, focusing on global market expansion and local optimisation.

In her new role at PropertyGuru, Ho-Strangas will be joining PropertyGuru’s Group Leadership Team and will be responsible for driving the vision, strategy, and execution of innovative and game-changing data and software solutions and services, with a focus on enterprise customers in the property sector. Supported by her team within the DSS business unit, Ho-Strangas will also be leading the charge to identify and accelerate opportunities to pursue PropertyGuru’s quest to build the property trust platform in Southeast Asia.

Commenting on her appointment, Ho-Strangas, said, “I am thrilled to join PropertyGuru Group at such an exciting and defining juncture in the company’s journey. Their laser focus on customer needs and vision to become the trusted advisor resonates with me, and I look forward to joining.”

Meanwhile, Hari V. Krishnan, PropertGuru’s CEO and managing director, shared that the appointment will be a critical asset as they build out their software products and expand their data solutions. 

“Over the last 15 years, our growth and success have been due to constant investments in technology, providing solutions that solve customer pain points. I am confident that she will be an invaluable leader to push forward our agenda for data transparency and bring solutions that the industry needs,” said Krishnan.

Singapore – The digital property marketplace in SEA, PropertyGuru Group, has successfully completed the acquisition of digital property advertising firm iProperty Malaysia and real estate portal thinkofliving Thailand.

PropertyGuru, which has a presence across Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, empowers property seekers with more than 2.8 million real estate listings, in-depth insights, and solutions that enable them to make confident property decisions.

With the acquisition, PropertyGuru will now be owning all of the shares in global digital firm REA Group’s entities in Malaysia and Thailand, which include Malaysia’s iProperty and Brickz, and Thailand’s thinkofliving and Prakard. In exchange, REA now has an approximate 18%2 equity interest in PropertyGuru.

Furthermore, the acquisition will be accelerating PropertyGuru’s ambition of building SEA’s property Trust Platform, a platform that connects the region’s property markets into an efficient ecosystem that builds trusted relationships between agents, consumers, developers, valuers, and banks by driving greater transparency and efficiency.

iProperty Malaysia and thinkofliving will be continuing to operate separately, and in the coming months, PropertyGuru will be working to ensure the smooth integration of the businesses while delivering the same market-leading value and services to property seekers, agents, and developers. This will include leveraging collective strengths in technology, innovation, and data to offer consumers access to information and insights to support their homeownership aspirations in the region.

Hari V. Krishnan, PropertyGuru’s chief executive officer and managing director, commented that they are delighted to bring two strong businesses into the group, and together, PropertyGuru believes that they are better positioned to deliver even more innovation to property seekers, equipping them with the insights they need to make confident decisions. 

“By combining PropertyGuru’s strengths in technology and proprietary data with iProperty.com.my’s footprint and relationships with developers and agents, we can digitize the Malaysian property ecosystem and accelerate our goal of creating Southeast Asia’s property Trust Platform. We look forward to working together to serve property consumer preferences in Southeast Asia,” said Krishnan.

Meanwhile, Owen Wilson, the chief executive officer of REA Group, said that the completion of this transaction creates the most compelling PropTech group in Southeast Asia. 

“As the digitization of the property market continues to accelerate across the region, PropertyGuru is perfectly placed to build on its leadership position and capture future growth opportunities. We look forward to being part of this exciting journey,” said Wilson.

PropertyGuru also said that coupled with its market leadership across the region’s five major markets, the group will be positioned to capture the significant opportunities in the region, which deems to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030.